1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to elastic electric contacts made by processes for making electrical contacts using manufacturing techniques that result in flexibility in design and performance of the contacts.
2. Background of the Invention
The ability to make separable electrical contact with contacts of miniature electronic circuits has become more problematic as the mechanical, electrical, and reliability requirements of these electrical contacts become more demanding. Nano springs, pogo pins, micro springs, and other miniature contact devices have been developed to deal with the problem of making reliable electrical contact between a microcircuit and the rest of an electronic system. The problem for the industry, however, is that no particular contact design appears to provide all of the properties required, even where specially designed contact elements are used in specific applications. None of the existing contacts can meet all of the design criteria.
It is desirable to have separable electrical connections in electronic applications because these connections are used in system assembly, device testing, and wafer probing.
For purposes of brevity and clarity, like components and elements of the apparatus of this invention will bear the same designations or numbering throughout the figures.